Outlier, noun, 1: something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body. 2: a statistical observation that is markedly differently in value from others of the sample.

For into anyone that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance, but from him that has not shall be taken away even that which he has – Matthew 25:29, the Matthew effect, also called the iron rule of distribution.

Success arises out of the steady accumulation of advantages.

The circumstances of your upbringing all make a significance difference on how well you do in the world.

There is order even to drinking cold water – Korean saying.

No one who can rise before dawn 360 days a year fails to make his family rich.

Embrace the struggle.

At the very top of the top of the pyramid.

Biologists often talk about the “ecology” of an organism: the tallest oak in the forest is the tallest not just because it grew from the hardiest acorn; it is the tallest also because no other trees blocked its sunlight, the soil around it was deep and rich, no rabbit chewed through its bark as a sapling, and no lumberjack cut it down before it matured. We all know that successful people come from hardy seeds. But do we know enough about the sunlight that warmed them, the soil in which they put down the roots, and the rabbits and lumberjacks they were lucky enough to avoid? This is not a book about tall trees. It’s a book about forests and hockey is a good place to start because the explanation for who gets to the top of the hockey world is a lot more interesting and complicated than it looks. In fact, it’s downright peculiar.

The 10, 000 hour rule. You must put forth 10, 000 hours of practice or 10 years to be an expert at anything.

The trouble with geniuses, knowledge of a boy’s IQ is of little help if you are faced with a formful of clever boys.

During the oral exams for his PhD, Bill Joy made up a particularly complicated algorithm on the fly that so stunned his examiners that one of them later compared the incident to Jesus confounding his elders.

Practice isn’t the thing you do once you are good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.

Autonomy, complexity and connection between effort and reward are, the three qualities world has to have if it is to be satisfying.

If you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.

A culture of honor takes root in marginally fertile areas where the inhabitants raise animals. The herdsman has to fight in response to the slightest challenge to his reputation. A man’s reputation is at the center of his livelihood and self worth. That’s why Sicily, and other parts of the world where pastoralism is practiced is plagued by violence.

Human manure called night soil in China, is used to fertilize rice.

Working really hard is what successful people do.

Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard.

Success follows a predictable course. It is not the brightest who succeed. Nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and effort we make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a gift. Outliers are those who have been given opportunities and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.

“There is a lie that acts like a virus within the mind of humanity. And that lie is, ‘There’s not enough good to go around. There’s lack and there’s limitation and there’s just not enough.’

The truth is that there’s more than enough good to go around. There is more than enough creative ideas. There is more than enough power. There is more than enough love. There’s more than enough joy. All of this begins to come through a mind that is aware of its own infinite nature.

There is enough for everyone. If you believe it, if you can see it, if you act from it, it will show up for you. That’s the truth.”
― Michael Beckwith